I have visited many different types of aviaries and birdrooms. Some, constructed of wood, some brick, some large and others small. My opinion is that you can breed birds anywhere. However, for your own, and your birds' comfort, the better the birdroom, you can build, the better. My own birdroom. which is twenty feet by ten feet, was built of brick seven years ago at a cost, then, of approximately 1,000. I favour brick construction as it keeps the average temperature cool in summer and warm in winter. Brick has a definite advantage over wood in this respect. The best birdroom I have seen is that of Chancellor and Wood. It is fitted out with kitchen units and has its own boiler room from which nine domestic radiators are run.

 

Room to Extend

Whatever you choose to build as a birdroom, the one essential in my view, is to allow space for extending. It is absolutely certain that no matter what you start with, it will turn out to be too small either sooner or later. If your domestic circumstances make a house move likely then you should choose a wooden construction as this will be portable. If you are sure of staying in one place then brick is an option. What do you do with a brick birdroom if you lose interest in Budgerigars? Some birdrooms I have seen could be easily converted into an office, garden room or even a "granny flat"!

I do not believe heat is necessary for the birds but it is for me, at least in winter! I keep the temperature around 48-50 Fahrenheit. This year I upped the thermostat by 5 degrees. Birds use more energy in winter to keep warm. They expend energy feeding chicks and laying eggs. Remember if you feel uncomfortable so maybe do your birds.

 

We have twenty-six breeding cages which are fairly typical, being 24 inches by 18 inches by 15 inches. They are made from melamine which is extremely easy to clean. You simply wipe it clean. There are two perches in each cage of different shapes and size. one is square and the other perch is round. These are scored to assist the birds to grip them better. I believe the different types of perching cause the bird's feet to constantly adjust their grip on the perch. This helps prevent sores on their feet. Square perches are absolutely essential and also assist the mating process. We also use a nursery cage on wheels. It gives us somewhere to put the young birds. You can push this around when tending to your birds. This helps steady them and the nursery cage also does not take up valuable breeding space.

 

Cages Cleaned Daily

We clean all our flights and cages daily, as deep litter is a method I cannot agree with. The daily routine does not bother the birds. They get used to it and generally the cock bird goes into the nest box until the cage is cleaned. Under the perches we have a piece of stainless steel which I had specially made. This catches all the loose droppings and can be easily scraped and rinsed before being returned to the breeding cage. Two reasons why I believe daily cleaning out of the cages is essential, is that it gets rid of any softfood which may go off or any seed treated with cod liver oil which may go rancid.

Although cod liver oil has become unfashionable in recent years, we do mix this with our seed. Trill is the seed we feed and grit, cuttlefish and iodine nibbles are also supplied. Hormova is fed in a finger drawer. It is important to feed a consistent diet. After a long conversation with Gerald Binks we adopted some of his ideas on feeding. The seed we feed is treated with cod liver oil and left for 24 hours. An equal amount of untreated seed is added before it is fed to our birds. During the non-breeding season we reduce the amount of cod liver oil added to our seed by half.

 

Also fed in a finger drawer is Kilpatrick's minerals. We add Abidec and Cytacon to the water following this routine: 2 drops of Abidec to one pint of water - 1 teaspoon of Cytacon to one pint water is fed with additives for four days, then plain water is fed for three days. Don't feed softfood at the same time or you could overdose vitamins. During the non-breeding season we halve the amount of additives in the water.

 

We are fast approaching the Champion section, therefore it's very important that we breed better birds and not just an odd good one, but quality in numbers. We normally pair up around 12-15 October if the birds are fit. If this works the second round youngsters will be hatching in January 1996. Despite the need to hatch some early chicks I will refuse to pair our birds unless they are super-fit.

 

Our nest-box is an outside one and is the box-within-a-box type with high sides. A record card is attached to the front of the nest-box. I cannot stress too much the importance of keeping accurate and complete records during the breeding season.

 

Move Empty Eggs

When we have a hen which starts laying empty eggs these are removed. We are able to do this because the eggs are marked when laid. We use a water-based pen for this purpose. Do not use a water-soluble pen. Removing clear eggs has the effect of making the hen lay additional eggs. I find that the clutch sometimes extends to eight, nine or ten eggs, and full eggs can appear towards the end of the clutch . This can cause the problem of the first full egg being due to hatch some time after the hen is expecting the first empty egg to hatch. To prevent problems such as the hen deserting the nest or breaking the eggs it is a good practice to place a chick into the nest around the time that the first egg should have hatched.

Other problems can occur when a just-hatched chick is not being fed properly. We use a cocktail stick to feed such chicks. A match stick could be an alternative. The solution we feed is a mixture of full cream milk and glucose which has a high energy content. After the chick is fed we leave it and check it thirty minutes later. The feeding is repeated and the chick checked an hour later.

 

To try and ensure that non-feeding hens are rare, Jackie prepares bread and milk for all our breeding pairs. The ingredients are wholemeal bread and full cream milk. This is cut into strips and fed in finger drawers. Although all pairs are fed bread and milk not all Budgerigars will take to it. A little glucose is sprinkled on top of the bread to encourage the birds to feed on it. Please note that you cannot "overdose" glucose. It is a very good source of energy.

 

The Dosing Tube

The dosing tube is an extremely efficient method of getting medicine into a sick bird quickly, particularly in the case of a bird which is not eating or drinking. It can also be used as a way of getting sustenance into a sick bird which is not eating. We use a mixture of Milupa (a baby food), flucose and warm water which is mixed until of a runny consistency. This is sucked up into the dosing tube. Two full dosing tubes generally fill an adult bird's crop. We obtained our dosing tube from Dave Cottrell. Since then we have lost very few sick Budgerigars.

The other method of treating a sick bird that we employ is a heat lamp, which we feel has advantages over the more traditional hospital cage. It concentrates the heat on the bird which saves the bird using what energy it has to warm itself. Unlike the hospital cage it does give the bird an opportunity to retreat to the back of the cage, or to the other perch to obtain some respite from the heat.

 

Tools of The Trade

Some of these have already been mentioned. The egg-holder to avoid us directly touching the eggs. The special torch to detect fertility in the eggs. A water-based pen for marking eggs and a small bottle of white fluid for painting over cracks in eggs. A highlighter pen and ball-point pen are required for marking the record cards. The dosing tube for using with sick birds. You will not get through a breeding season without resorting to some or all of these.

 

Information from Mick Freakley

any idea what a 'The Dosing Tube' looks like?

A dosing tube is like a crop needle but instread of a metal tube (16 gauge for budgerigars) it uses a plastic tube. You can get them from good Produce Store. Brendale Produce or the one at Rothwell should have them in stock. They are best used for Crop washes in case of Sour Crop.

thanks Daz :bluebudgie: I thought it would be something like that but wasn't sure.

Jackie prepares bread and milk for all our breeding pairs.

This has always confused me and yet this isn't the first time i've seen it mentioned - i thought budgies were lactose intolerant therefore making dairy a bad thing to feed?

I see where they speak of adding cod liver oil to the seed. In talking with some show breeders they speak of adding both codliver oil and wheatgern oil to the seed and remarked on the huge difference in the quality of the chicks. Do you know of this and if so, the proportions to use ?

I've also read about adding cod liver oil... mixed in and left for 24 hours before giving it to the birds?

I give seed that has cod liver oil and wheat germ oil soaked for 24 hrs to the flock. It is one way of geting the much needed vitamins A,D & E. These vitamins are need by the birds Immune system.

 

Mixture is 5ml to 500grams

... gesss what was I thinking.. I gave the Cod Liver Oil away last year when I lost birds to it..

... gesss what was I thinking.. I gave the Cod Liver Oil away last year when I lost birds to it..

Mick Freakley, being a UK breeder uses the cod liver oil. Their climate is so different to ours.

Edited February 6, 200916 yr by KAZ

Yes, too much oil in our warmer climate causes issues with the birds health. I have found other ways to give the birds what they need in the way of Vitamins.